I attended Grantham for a hernia repair and generally speaking I was satisfied with the treatment I received. However, two aspects of my stay in the hospital were unsatisfactory.

Before the operation I passed urine normally at about 11 o'clock. After the operation I was unable to pass urine at all. I realise this is a normal side effect of the operation but as time passed it became very uncomfortable and I asked the nursing staff if they could do anything to help. I was advised that I needed a catheter as there was 700 ml of urine in my bladder. Over the next few hours I repeatedly asked for this procedure to be carried out but was told no doctor was available due to the high number of patients in A&E. Eventually a senior nurse agreed to insert the catheter. This was done at 10. 30 p. m, some 10 hours after the operation. Relief was immediate and the catheter was removed the next morning.

On the day I was due for discharge the procedure was so protracted that it was 5 p.m when I left the hospital. I find this length of time most unsatisfactory, particularly as I was not waiting for any medication, although I did have to wait some time for the dressing to be changed. This did not happen until quite late on in the afternoon, although the nursing staff knew this had to be done.